Welcome to the January 2013 issue of ISnAP! In this issue: - 2012 ISAP Images in review - Fleet Week: Hayman Tam - AeroCapture Images Cockpit360 App: Lyle Jansma - Tilt/Shift Blur tool: Jay Beckman - My First Video: John Slemp - How I Got the Shot You can view and download this issue, as well as past ISnAP issues, by going to http://www.issuu.com/isaporg. If you have a problem with the link to download the current issue, copy and paste the link in your browser. ISAP Membership Renewal 2013 You can now conveniently renew your ISAP membership online! To renew online, simply go to our website: http://www.aviationphoto.org. Renewal information (either online or by mail) is located under the Member’s Area. You do not need to login in order to renew your membership.
Cover: ISAP Vice Chair Jim Wilson captured this image from the open tail of his favorite photo platform, a North American B-25. The crew of Devil Dog, led by Scott “Gunny” Perdue and Miss Beth Jenkins were at the top of their game for this challenging assignment. The value of having a crew that is not only supremely safety conscious and intensely professional, but also understands and anticipates exactly what the photographer is seeking, is immeasurable.” Settings: Canon 1DX ,24-70 Series II, 1/250th at f/16
Memberships will no longer be calendar year memberships, they will be on an anniversary basis, meaning your membership will be up for renewal each year on the date that you signed up. I hope members will continue to get ever more involved with ISAP and take advantage of the opportunities it presents to form, build, and strengthen camaraderie and subject knowledge. Emphasis has been placed on general information, photography events, equipment, and member accomplishments in ISnAP. Your feedback will help us to keep you in contact with each other and ISAP. Put ISAP-XII on your schedule for May 16, 17 and 18 2013 in Seattle, WA. We’re working hard to put together yet another incredible program. More updates will follow soon. Enjoy the issue! Sincerely, Larry Grace,President International Society for Aviation Photography www.aviationphoto.org • www.facebook.com/ISAPorg
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Thank you to all the members listed below for contributing photos for this 2012 Year in Review. Have a great 2013. Andy Wolfe Ben Kristy Bonnie Kratz Brent Clark Brian Veprek Chad Slattery Chris Parypa Chris Ranney Dan Beauvais David Franks Dylan van Graan Eric Simonsen Françoise GuilÊ
Gary Chambers Gary Daniels Glenn Watson Jack Tyson James Robinson Jay Beckman Jay Miller Jeff Krueger Jeff Miller Jeff Welker Jeroen Oude Wolbers Jessica Ambats Jim Froneberger
Jim Raeder Jim Wilson Jo Hunter John Maene John Slemp Kenneth Strohm Kevin Crozier Kevin Hong Larry Grace Marco Tricarico Mark Bennett Mark Naumann Marshall Autry
Matt Miles Mehdi Nazarinia Michael Tessler Mike Collins Mike Gagarin Mike Green Mike Luedey Philip Johnson Rob Edgcumbe Sheldon Heatherington Steve Burke Steve Zimmermann Tony Granata
The Blue Angels solo goes transonic at mast height.
by Hayman Tam
Over 1 million spectators flocked to San Francisco to enjoy the Fleet Week festivities and watch the airshow that is the highlight of the event (although the America’s Cup attendees may have a different opinion). Anyone along San Francisco’s waterfront had a ringside seat for two jet teams and the many other performers flying over show center, marked by ships and buoys in the bay. Some folks chose to watch the show from Alcatraz Island, site of the infamous prison. The weather was wonderfully cooperative with clear blue skies and comfortable temperatures. Unlike a traditional land-based airshow, there were no static displays and the performers staged out of nearby airports. It is a totally different airshow environment and the pilots used the terrain and the historic sites to their advantage, like high-speed passes over the iconic bridges or Alcatraz. The Blue Angels flew out of San Francisco International airport, still executing their precision ground drills but with very few spectators to observe. This was the second year that I chose to attend the Friday practice show, and it reinforced the wisdom of doing so (90% of the show minus 75% of the crowds). Many thanks to fellow ISAP’er Les Baldwin for, once again, securing our regular spots at the one of the Fort Mason piers. These piers point towards the airshow box and are the closest one can be for most of the performance. The airshow started off with a rescue demonstration by the U.S. Coast Guard with their HH-65 Dauphin, feeling quite at home since the Bay was teeming with Coast Guard vessels of all shapes and sizes enforcing the boat-free zone under the airshow box.
The US Coast Guard recovers a rescue swimmer during their demonstration.
A F-22 Raptor, F-16 Fighting Falcon and P-51 Mustang made up the Air Force Heritage Flight for the show. Military flybys started with a pair of U.S. Marine Corp AV-8B Harriers, courtesy of VMA-311 from Yuma, AZ , followed by a MV-22B Osprey from VMM-166 out of Miramar, CA. They were followed by a CF-18 Hornet demonstration, courtesy of the Royal Canadian Air Force, transitioning to a full exhibition by the US Air Force’s new F-22 Raptor. The Lockheed Martin Raptor, with its vectoring exhaust nozzles, put on a very impressive show full of seemingly impossible maneuvers. The F-22 was joined by a F-16 Fighting Falcon and Steve Hinton’s P-51 Mustang “Wee Willy II” for an Air Force Heritage Flight flyby.
Greg Colyer flies his beautiful T-33 Shooting Star over Alcatraz Island.
A F/A-18E Super Hornet out of NAS Lemoore put on a impressive demonstration of power and agility. Warbird fans enjoyed the performance of Greg Colyer in his Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. A standard appearance for the Fleet Week airshow are commercial airliner flybys, this year it was provided by United Airlines with a Boeing 777 executing low altitude flybys in both landing and cruise configurations. The pilots undoubtedly enjoyed themselves as they executed tight turns over Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.
A United Airlines 777 makes a low pass over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Mike Wiskus mingles with the boaters during his performance.
Sean Tucker goes inverted in his Oracle Challenger III.
The Blue Angels fly the oldest F/A-18’s in the fleet.
The Blue Angels roar over one of their biggest crowds of the year. The sensational Sean Tucker wowed the crowds with his energetic display, often flying below mast height as he performed his low passes. Other aerobatic performers included “Super Dave” Mathieson in the Scheyden MX-2, and Mike Wiskus performing in his Lucas Oil Pitts S-1. Now it was time for the headliner act, the Blue Angels, to show their stuff. As always, their C-130 transport “Fat Albert” got to warm up the crowd, performing a series of flybys. As always, the Blues put on quite a show, but this one was more picturesque with the Golden Gate Bridge serving as a backdrop. Since 1981, Fleet Week has been an annual opportunity for Northern Californians to honor the men and women of the US and allied armed forces, with a focus on the United States Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Besides the airshow acts, many naval ships were open to the public during the week for tours. Fleet Week in 2013 is scheduled for October 11-14th.
AeroCapture Images Cockpit360º App Why photograph in 360 degrees? Like a river crashing through the universe, time is an uncontrollable and can’t be contained. We are stuck moving forward through it and can only peer back at the past history through our memories of it. That history is important, it shows us where we came from and gives us hints at where we are going, but it is often forgotten or the memories fade away. Efforts to preserve those memories often center on the preservation of artifacts that can stand the test of time. In the word of aviation, obtaining artifacts comes relatively easy because as technology progresses with time, obsolete aircraft are often discarded for scrap. Since an integral facet of preserving history is passing the collect knowledge of the past onto the current generation, the display of aircraft is popular and given a large enough space, easy. But, not all aircraft are accessible to everyone, and many can only be enjoyed from the outside or from a safe distance. One day, photographer Lyle Jansma was volunteering at Heritage Flight Museum in Bellingham, Washington. He was approached by a man in a wheelchair who was curious to see what the inside of the Museum’s
by Lyle Jansma
P-51 Mustang Val-Halla looked like. Being wheelchair bound, there was no feasible or safe way to allow a glimpse inside. Jansma, a real-estate photographer by trade, thought about this situation and realized he had the tools and knowledge to solve this problem. For more than a decade he has been creating virtual tours by creating 360 degree photographic panoramas. All he had to do was figure out how to make it work in the close confines of a P-51 cockpit. After a little bit of trial and error, success was found and he was able to share what it was like to sit at the controls. The ACI Cockpit360º App makes history a little more accessible to everyone. Another aspect of preserving history is to document everything through recordings, writing, photographing, digitizing and other means. Cockpit360º is able to do this in ways not normally seen and in places not usually thought of. Time has a way of destroying artifacts and making memories weak. In this way, history fades away and becomes lost. The case for documenting the cockpit and interiors of every historically significant airplane has already been made and settled. On June 13th of
2011, the B-17 Liberty Belle had an in-flight fire and was forced to land in a field where it burned. The aircraft was a total loss, but it won’t be erased from history. Mere weeks earlier while visiting Seattle it was documented for the ACI Cockpit360º App and will forever be available in high resolution interactive 360 degree photographs. The same is true of the F2G Super Corsair flown by the late Bob Odegaard. Sadly, both were lost in a tragic crash. But the Corsair has been preserved for the next generation by ACI Cockpit360º and in a way so does Mr. Odegaard. History can be hard to preserve especially since it is intrinsically linked to the passage of time. When you add aircraft to the mix it becomes increasingly difficult to preserve, especially if you include historic aircraft that are still actively flying as accidents to occasionally happen. People interacting with aircraft also have a tendency to sometimes break things which can hamper the efforts to preserve aircraft. One solution is to keep people away from the artifacts and lessen the amount of interaction, but this also dulls the experience. Cockpit360º is a good solution to this problem as it allows you to both preserve the
airplane and interactively share the experience. Currently, the only way to truly enjoy the interior of the Museum of Flight’s B-29 T-Square 54 is through the 360 degree photographs as it sits inaccessible and wrapped in plastic awaiting final restoration. This is why we created the ACI Cockpit360º App and why bringing 360 degree photography to historic aircraft is a passion of ours. It’s the only way to allow for the preservation, documentation and display of the interiors of historic aircraft while still remaining accessible and interactive. This is important to keeping history alive and is an often forgotten yet critical aspect of airplanes. After all, the seats and controls is where men and women made the history we hope to remember and the ACI Cockpit360º App allows you to put yourself in those seats and at those controls.
Quick and Dirty Use of the Tilt/Shift Blur Tool In Photoshop CS6 by Jay Beckman
We had just about wrapped up a brief afternoon visit to Luke AFB and had been shooting from the tower catwalk when one lone Fighting Falcon appeared out of the setting sun and cast a long shadow over the approach end of RWY 3R.
I haven’t done a lot of faux tilt/shift work but I have observed that the best results seem to come from a fairly high “eye point” which makes sense when you consider you want to give the viewer the impression that they’re looking down on a miniature from above.
Despite throwing 700mm of glass and a 1.3X Crop Factor at him, he was very small in the viewfinder. Almost “toy-like” which planted an idea I chose to explore in post processing.
The Tilt/Shift Blur tool in CS6 allows you to make several key adjustments. You can: - Move the centroid anywhere on the screen - Adjust the actual blur demarcation line above and below the centroid - Adjust the onset of the blur beyond the demarcation lines - Adjust the amount of blur - Adjust the amount of distortion in the areas being blurred (I look at this as able to somewhat tweak the bokeh)
The straight-from-the-camera image suffered from very low contrast, some flare and needed a little rotation for level. Running through the usual steps in Adobe Lightroom helped a great deal and I could start to see a little more potential but this needed some further work in Photoshop CS6. As most of you know, I really like Nik Viveza and Nik Silver Effex Pro 2 and those two products were the next weapons brought to bear. My preferred use of “Structure” in Viveza began to sharpen things nicely but it was running this image through Silver Effex and creating a fairly aggressive black & white conversion (and subsequent “Luminosity” layer property in CS6) that really gave everything some “pop.” I did a little cloning and content aware fill to remove some of the more distracting specular items like clumps of grass and spots on the runway. I also cropped by about 30% at this point. Now I was happy with the image from a technical standpoint but it needed just one more tweak to really put a bow on this toy!
One other adjustment is available and it came into play on this project. You can rotate the axis of the blur just as you can rotate the front elements on a real tilt/shift lens. If you look at the first version which has been T/S Blurred, you should be able to see that it cuts across the frame totally level. What gave me a bit of an “Ah HA!” moment was to rotate the axis of the blur so that it parallels the runway! I can’t really say why I found that little adjustment to be better than simply blurring straight across the frame, but to me, it falls better to the eye to have the “slice” of sharp focus in line with the path of the jet and I think I pulls the runway threshold more into play.
This particular shot isn’t maybe where most would try some tilt/shift, but certainly many of us spend time aloft and have the opportunity while flying to grab some air to ground shots of subjects that might lend themselves well to this treatment.
If you have any questions about this technique, feel free to drop me a note!
Malls, schools, freeways, subdivisions a lone building in a field or even airports themselves can all be left in the digital dryer a little too long and come out nicely shrunk!
Jay Beckman Crosswind Images Chandler, AZ
A very Happy New Year to everyone in ISAP! Fly Safe!!
My First Video…Larry King, Aerobat by John Slemp As you know, video has become somewhat of a phenomenon since the internet became the main delivery vehicle for visual content. Up to now, many corporate, wedding, and family videos were created and viewed (mercifully) by a relatively small group of people. With the marriage of digital capture for both stills and moving pictures, and the ability to deliver visual content easily to a worldwide audience, a video can literally be seen many millions of times. It is predicted that within three years, over 70% of all internet traffic will be video content. Accordingly, many photographers are now beginning to explore video as an adjunct to their still photography, and indeed many clients are expecting photographers to deliver both mediums upon request. Not surprisingly, the video market has exploded in terms of equipment, software, and educational offerings. Digital video capture can be achieved with a high end Red cinema camera, or with a very inexpensive GoPro or Sony camera that literally fits in the palm of your hand. The technology is advancing so fast that now it’s possible with the new GoPro Hero3 camera to capture 4K video, which has 4 times the resolution of 1080p. Black Magic, a California software company announced this year their first hardware offering, a digital camera that captures RAW 2.5K video with a dynamic range of 13 stops, for three thousand dollars. Consequently, there is already a waiting list for this camera. Of course, many digital SLR’s now capture HD video as well. So, where to go with this flood of technology? Having thought about it for a few years now, and not having the extra capital necessary to invest in a completely new set of equipment, I decided to wait. But I
make this business decision if you have no desire or ability to tell visuals stories. While a still photo has the power to silently capture a viewer’s attention for a few seconds, a person viewing a video has a much different set of expectations, both aurally and visually. It requires a completely different thought process as well. With the ever advancing tide of technology, I decided this fall that now is a good time to get acquainted with video. I’d heard about the small video camera that Sony introduced to compete with the GoPro cameras, and bought a couple to learn with. As it happened, a good friend and aerobatic pilot, Larry King, was to soon be flying in his last show of the season. I volunteered to make a video for him, as a way to learn the visual and audio techniques, and the software necessary to create a tightly edited piece. He readily agreed, and plans were made to meet on show day at the new Paulding County Airport, outside of Atlanta. My chance to try out the new Sony Action Cam HDR-AS15 came on a very bright, sunny afternoon in October. Having only received the cameras two days earlier, it was a bit of an experiment as to how they worked, even having read the instructions. We didn’t even know how solid the suction-cup mounts would be, but we decided to go ahead anyway, since there was only one way to find out. Tapping into the aircraft audio system was an educated guess at best, but it appeared feasible. A splitter and 5 foot cable for $12 at the local audio store was all it took to record the radio transmissions. The sound quality was perfect by the way. The camera’s stereo microphone also did a great job of picking up the ambient crowd sounds on the ground, especially when the canopy was open. One camera was mounted on the outside landing gear strut’s flat upper surface, and the other was mounted to the inside of the forward passenger compartment, facing rearward. With a 16gb micro SD card ($15 at Staples!), the camera would record about 2 hours and 10 minutes, so the length of his flight program was not a concern. Likewise the card in my Zoom H4N digital recorder was large enough to last throughout the program, especially with new batteries. It was suction cup mounted to the carbon-fiber front seat back. When the canopy closed there was more than enough clearance. Larry was soon alerted that he was next, and the cameras and sound recorder were started. The RAM suction cup mounts worked flawlessy, so much so that Larry didn’t even notice the camera, once he began his routine. Likewise, the sound splitter proved to work without a hitch. On the first run, I had inadvertently set the camera to record JPEG’s, which it will do at intervals of 5, 10, and 30 seconds, and one minute. The files are about 2mb in size, and while probably not big enough for most print uses, they are more than adequate for the web. The image below is from the first run, and while a jpeg, it appears to have great color, contrast, and both highlight and shadow detail, especially for bright sunlight.
believe the time has come to begin learning this new means of delivering visual content to an ever expanding market. One word of caution is in order though. I’ve heard it repeatedly said that it’s a mistake to
As with any new camera system, once the kinks are ironed out, you can begin to employ it creatively. I showed the finished video to a friend who has been a long-time videographer, and he couldn’t believe the quality, or it’s small size. In fact, in one shot, the camera was mounted to the inside of the canopy, so that when the canopy was open the image appeared to be on its side. When Larry closed the canopy, the camera
learning the software. Fortunately, FCPX is non-destructive, so it’s easy to scrap a segment (or the whole thing if you like), without damaging your source files. Sound is a component that should not be overlooked. It’s importance is critical to the success of your video. The visuals can occasionally be of marginal quality, but if the sound is clear, then most won’t notice the poor visuals. However, if you have bad sound (and you know what that is when you hear it…), it becomes a frustrating experience. Learn all you can about good audio capture, and you’ll be far ahead of your competitors who overlook it. Music can also add a great deal to a video, and there are now many outlets on the web that cater to videographers. If necessary, pay to license the music, especially if it’s to be used commercially. moved along with it, so that it became oriented in the normal vertical position. This allowed us to record the closing and latching of the canopy, from inside the cockpit, a perspective I don’t think I’d seen before. In another shot, the camera was mounted down low, inside the cockpit, so that when he’s buckling in, the sky served as the background. Again the small size of the camera allowed us to “play” a little, and to try things that one probably doesn’t ordinarily think of. I think this will encourage me to be a bit more creative with my still work as well. I cannot encourage you enough to get the files downloaded, organized, and backed up as soon as possible after capture. It helps if you can remember the day’s events, and label them accordingly. Remember, the
files will be in “chunks” initially, but will be broken up into much smaller “bites” in the editing process. Well organized files greatly help in later finding that little gem that will add the right visual or sound touch, at the right time. By far the most demanding aspect of the project was the editing in Final Cut Pro X. While the software basics aren’t difficult to learn, the more you know, the more you realize how many options you have. Many decisions are required to create a cohesive sequence that logically tells the story. While it’s not “hard”, it is very time consuming, especially while
Similary, learn all you can about titles and credits. While a small part of the overall whole, it can go a long way towards giving the video a professional appearance, or making it look “cheesy”. Remember it’s your call. Don’t forget to give Thanks! where it’s due in the credits. Video can be very much a team effort, so don’t overlook anyone’s contribution, however minor. Everyone will appreciate it, and you’ll look like a hero. Be that guy. Keep in mind how the video is to be viewed. There are a whole host of decisions to be made as to the final output, depending on where it will be seen. Compression of the file can have undesirable side effects, so it’s important to pay attention here as well. Lastly, I’d say give yourself some leeway while learning this process.
A tremendous amount of time can be spent pole vaulting over minor details that in the end will have little effect on the finished piece. When you get to the point of diminishing returns, make the best decision you can, and call it a day. Any film can probably be improved with enough time or money, but in the end, it is a transitory piece of information. Do the best you can, learn from the experience, and incorporate those lessons into your next project. Have fun with it too!
HOW I GOT THE SHOT
by Lyle Jansma
Earlier this year ISAP President Larry Grace asked me to comment on one of my more interesting photographs taken this year. He asked the question “How did you get that shot?” In my simple answer was, stuck my head out of the airplane and “Sprayed & Prayed” to which you replied “No, HOW did you get that shot!” So, here is the story behind “The Jumper” Last February I was finishing up an article on and O-1Bird Dog for Warbird Digest at the Heritage Flight Museum in Bellingham, Washington. As I was finishing up the photo shoot in their main hangar my phone rang with the most peculiar number showing on the screen.
After looking at it I realized it was an international number and sprinted for the door to get some better reception. On the other end of the call was my friend Marie Gamache who is a loadmaster on C-17’s and was stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. After the quick hello’s and how are you doing’s, Marie cut to the chase on why she was giving me a call. Part of her duties at Ramstein included NATO logistical support for C-130 aircraft throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Because of this, she had been chosen to manage airfield operations at Maupertus Airport outside of Cherbourg, France for the NATO support of the 2012 D-Day Commemoration. She had an offer, come visit me for D-Day this year; that was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
So the schedule was cleared I began making plans to be in Normandy on June 6, 2012. One of the first calls I made after talking to Marie was to Greg Morehead at Warbird Digest to pitch the story idea. At that point I didn’t know what the story was going to be, I just knew that I was going to be in Normandy and I’d find a story to tell. Greg gave me the go-ahead to develop the story and keep him posted so next up was the research. American servicemen landed in Normandy two ways, by air and by sea, I’d be focusing on Airborne. The first part of the research was started by doing an Internet search to find out what events would be taking place at the D-Day commemoration services. Marie was going to be supporting of all the C-130 aircraft the departed Maupertus Airport with NATO Paratroops for the commemoration fly overs and drops throughout Normandy during the week’s events. I knew that I didn’t have much of a chance being embedded on one of these flights and that, quite frankly, that aspect of the story would not fit in well with the content Warbird Digest reports on. The next best thing, Living Historian Paratroops. I was able to locate several contact names for the Round Canopy Parachute Team which is based out of the Netherlands. I next went to Facebook to find out if these people had any pages and sure enough they did. I sent them each of quick message letting them know who I was and who I was affiliated with an what I was planning to do and asked for their assistance in helping to develop my story. The response from Jumpmaster Peter Braun, and founders Hubert Achten and Dominique Jame was almost instantaneous. Simply stated, their combined response was “How can we Help!” I explained to Peter my opportunity to travel to Normandy and that I wanted to do a story that helped commemorate the D-Day events and would it be possible to use them as the focus of my story. In response he asked if I would like to fly across the English Channel to witness them jump from a war veteran C-47 and embed with them for the week. Needless to say, there is no need to explain my reaction. On May 30, 2012, accompanied with friend and fellow filmmaker David Lawrence, we left SeaTac international for the overnight trip to Heathrow by way of Keflavik. Once in London we picked up our rental car and made her way to Portsmouth. Although driving on the left side of the road isn’t too terribly hard, doing it with a manual transmission can be interesting at times... I should’ve paid for the automatic upgrade. Once in Portsmouth we met up with Peter Braun and the rest the Round Canopy Parachute Team that would be jumping the next day on June 1st. After hoisting a few pints, we settled in for the evening and began to prepare mines for what we are about to do the next day. In the morning we assembled with the group and made our way by taxi to the airfield at Lee-on-the-Solent just outside of Portsmouth where we would be hitching a ride on the war veteran C-47 “Drag’em OoT”. We had to wait several hours for the arrival Drag’em OoT but, the time was well spent by the team as they conducted drills and went over procedures for exiting the aircraft. Peter Braun briefed with Dave and myself as to proper etiquette for moving about the cabin while attached to the jump cable via harnesses.
About 3 o’clock in the afternoon Drag’em OoT appeared on the horizon and after doing a couple of Fly Pasts for the crowd that gathered at Lee-on-the-Solent touchdown and preparations began for a trip across the English Channel. One of the more interesting and, historical facts to point out, is that our flight was the first time since the night of June 5/6, 1944 that a C-47 would be making the same flight path used during Operation Flatbush to drop paratroopers onto French soil. Just prior to climbing aboard the C-47, Peter pulled me aside and told me that, if I felt comfortable with it, I could open the escape hatch above the wing on the C-47 and photograph paratroopers exiting the aircraft. This is this was exactly what I was hoping to hear. The flight across the channel was simply one of the most amazing experiences that I ever had. It was one of those surrealistic moments were you realize that you were physically experiencing an event in color that always been represented to you and only black and whites. About 50 minutes later we were over the Hiesville drop zone and Peter motioned to me to take my position next to the escape hatch. Knowing that I might only get one chance at this, I instinctively set my camera to a shutter priority of 1/1000th and made sure I was shooting 10 frames a second. As always when you view an event through the lens of a camera you seem to have a bit of disconnect with what is actually happening. I knew what I had just witnessed but, I wasn’t sure what I’d seen and was anxious to review the photos. Of the couple hundred images that were captured on that jump there was one that stood out as being iconic. There was something about seeing the position of this paratrooper’s feet suspended in midair that drives home to me what those thousands of men who jumped the night of June 5/6, 1944 did and although I witnessed this in color, it needed to live in black and white. So, to answer Larry’s question, “How did you get that shot?” my answer can be simply put “with six months of planning and 30 seconds a shooting at 10 frames a second...” Lyle Jansma - lyle@jansmadesign.com EXIF Data Exposure Mode - 1/1000 Shutter Priority Aperture - f/7.1 Focal Length - 24.0 mm Metering Mode - Evaluative Subject Distance - 2.3 m Lens - Canon EF24-105 f/4L IS USM Camera - Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
This Month’s photoshop tips… Courtesy of www.planetphoshop.com
Use PNG for Transparency In the past, the only way to get transparent graphics on the Web was to use a GIF image. Unfortunately, GIF only allowed transparency in an “it either is or isn’t” way. With the PNG file format, you can save varying degrees of opacity, called Alpha transparency. by Raphael “RC” Concepcion Save A Selection In A Jpeg As A Path The ability to save selections inside a file is something that you can only do inside of a PSD, PDF, or TIFF image. Sometimes, you want to take advantage of the JPEG format. If you turn your selection into a work path (choose Make Work Path from the Paths panel’s flyout menu), you’ll be able to save your JPEG with the path included. When you open the image again, load the path as a selection (click the path in the Paths panel to make it active, and click the Load Path As a Selection icon at the bottom of the Paths panel). by Raphael “RC” Concepcion Cycle Through Fonts Double-click on a text layer’s thumbnail to select the text, then in the Options Bar, highlight the font name. Press the Up and Down Arrow keys to cycle through your available fonts and see exactly what your text will look like. by Corey Barker Change Opacity of Multiple Layers Before you could only change the opacity of a single layer. Now in CS5 you can change the opacity of multiple layers in CS5 by highlighting 2 or more layers and then change the opacity as you normally would. by Corey Barker Bristle Brush Preview The new bristle brush feature gives you the ability to add real bristle brush effects right in Photoshop. It even responds to the tilt of the Wacom pen. To see the angle of the brush there is a convenient preview window that comes on when you select a bristle brush. It can also be turned on or off inside the Brush Options panel by clicking the icon at the bottom. You can also click inside the preview window to change the angle of view from a side view to a top view. by Corey Barker HDR Pro/HDR Toning There are two ways to approach HDR in Photoshop now. One way, of course, is you can use the Merge to HDR Pro feature to combine several photos into an HDR image. However if you are after that HDR look on a photo that wasn’t shot for it. Go under the Image menu to Adjustments and choose HDR Toning. Here you have a number of settings that, when manipulated, can yield a pretty convincing HDR looking from one photo. Hence the name: HDR Toning. It’s worth exploring because I have discovered that with some experimentation the results can be very interesting. by Corey Barker
Content Aware: AWESOME! That is perhaps the best way to describe this new feature. This feature easily does 50-90% percent of the work right away. Simply select an area you want to remove then press Shift-Delete {PC:Shift-Backspace} and choose Content Aware from the Use menu and watch the magic. Now it’s not perfect but if it does 75% percent of the work only requiring you to do some minor tweaks, then it’s well worth it. I guarantee you will try this on every image you have. Even if they don’t need it. It’s that cool to see in action. by Corey Barker Brush Size Controls They have improved on the brush resize shortcut and made it one keyboard shortcut requiring you to only change the gesture direction. When the brush is selected hold down Control-Option {PC:Ctrl-Alt} then click-and-drag right to increase the brush size, left to decrease. Drag up to make the brush softer and down to make it harder. by Corey Barker Straighten that image Quicker So you may remember you can use the ruler to establish a baseline for the horizon of an image. Then you would use the Arbitrary rotation to straighten. Well since this became such common practice they simply added a straighten button in the options bar. Simply use the ruler to set the baseline as usual then just click on the Straighten button. Done! by Corey Barker Opening a jpeg in RAW Did you know that you could open and process JPEG photos in the Adobe Camera Raw dialog? If you’re in Bridge, select a JPEG photo that you want to edit. Then go to the File menu and choose Open in Camera Raw. You can also just press Command-R (PC: Ctrl-R) instead of going through the menu. by Corey Barker Bypass Camera Raw and Go Straight to Photoshop If you’re in Bridge and you want to open a RAW photo without going through the Camera Raw dialog, just press-and-hold the Shift key and double-click on the image. It’ll bypass the Camera Raw dialog, apply the current settings to the photo, and open it in Photoshop. by Corey Barker Go With The Flow The Adjustment Brush in Camera Raw has a few settings that can change the way you brush. For example, there’s a Size setting, which is pretty obvious. There’s also a Feather setting, which softens the edges of your brush. And finally there’s a Flow setting that affects how much of the effect is applied in each brush stroke. Well folks, right below that is a Density setting and we’ve gotten more questions about this little setting then anything. Wanna know why? Because when people try adjusting it nothing really happens. That’s because the Flow setting really does it all and Density barely does anything. So stay clear of the Density setting. Leave it at 100 and be done with it. If you want to adjust the characteristics of your brush then go with the other 3 settings. by Corey Barker http://www.planetphotoshop.com/category/tips
Name the mystery aircraft
Gadget Bag by Jay Miller
I have my fair share of camera bags. Use ‘em all the time and rarely go any place without ‘em. For most assignments, they’re sufficient to accommodate the gear required, but on occasion I have to drag along just about everything I own. Though several of my bags are equipped with the ubiquitous wheeled undercarriage that allows them to be rolled on their own, some, including my heavy studio lighting equipment bag, are not. For this and a couple of my other bags, a separate hand cart is a necessity. There are many dollys and hand carts available to photographers for moving camera gear. Accordingly, when I decided to buy one just over ten years ago, I found the options somewhat overwhelming. Dollys and hand carts come in bewildering variety. And the prices vary accordingly. My own pick of the litter was the RuXXac Fold-Flat. Had seen a few other shooters with RuXXacs in tow and presumed - rightly - that they would not be using them unless they were strong and dependable. RuXXac carts like the one I have are load-rated at 275 pounds. I’ve never put that big a pile on mine, but I can say with some confidence that it has carried numerous 100 pound loads without a single problem or mechanical failure. Built of steel, aluminum, heavy-duty plastic, and rubber, it is well thought out, relatively light weight (about 10 pounds), and easy to fold and unfold (after you learn the system!) The fold feature is one of the RuXXac’s most endearing qualities - as it is designed, at least in part, to be stowable in an airliner overhead bin. Photographers will like its small dimensions and the fact that it’s out of the way when it’s not in use. Conversely, when it’s needed it takes only a few seconds to set-up and lock. The hard rubber tires are about 7 inches in diameter, the platform that everything sits on is about 9 inches deep and 19 inches across (which also is the RuXXac’s widest dimension), and when the unit is folded, it’s about 2.25 inches deep and about 26 inches tall. When everything is unfolded, the RuXXac stands about 42 inches tall from its base to top of its grip bar.
The downside is that RuXXac brand hand carts apparently are no longer available. The upside is that several other companies now manufacture what is essentially the same unit - though, according to some reviews, these are not quite to the quality standards of their predecessor. I can not provide any insights concerning the quality issue, but I can tell you that the RuXXac that I have gives me every impression of having many years of hard use ahead before it’s relegated to the recycle bin. Prices vary considerably. I seem to recall that my RuXXac cost around $65 a dozen or so years ago. The newer units currently available on Amazon vary in price from $19.95 to $129.00 - but I’m guessing they also vary greatly in quality. Would recommend that you study up on the quality issue before making a commitment. Regardless, if you need a good hand cart to tote your photo goodies, you can’t go too far wrong with a two-wheel dolly of this kind. They are uncomplicated, very portable, and traditionally very rugged. Best of all, they’ll make your life as a photographer a lot easier - particularly if you have a lot of heavy gear to move around.
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Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine Vol 174 Num 46 December 24, 2012
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Aviation Week has posted their Photo Contest results at http://www.aviationweek.com/awst.aspx?channel=awst
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This year 729 photographs from 78 photographers in 13 countries entered the AW&ST annual photo contest (this was the 21st year the contest has ran)
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Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine 2012 Photo contest
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ISAP members featured this year are:
Winners Best of the Best: Jim Koepnick Third Place General: Even Peers Second Place General: Jessica Ambats First Place Commercial: Tom Pawlesh
Vintage Aircraft Finalists Kai Hansen (2 images) Hayman Tam Michael Tessler Tom Pawlesh (2 images)
Air Show Finalists Kai Hansen Jay Beckman (2 images) Cover Image Yasuhiro Yama Tom Pawlesh
At Work and Leisure Jessica Ambats Jim Koepnick (2 images) Evan Peers Ognyan Stefanov (3 images) Gary Chambers
Defense Fighters 1: Liz Kaszynski Scott Carlton Youmans (4 images) Fighters 2: Liz Kaszynski (2 images) Gary W Jones (2 images)
Multirole,Tankers and Reconnaissance Aircraft Ognyan Stefanov
Rotorcraft / Tiltrotors Scott Carlton Youmans (2 images) Ognyan Stefanov (2 images) Evan Peers
Commercial Aircraft 1: Tom Pawlesh Hayman Tam Evan Peers
Commercial Aircraft 2: Tom Pawlesh Ognyan Stefanov Congratulations to all of the ISAP members who entered in this year’s AW&ST photo contest.
May 16 - 19, 2013
ISAP Chairman
Larry Grace
ISAP Vice Chairman
Jim Wilson
ISAP Secretary Mike Collins ISAP Treasurer Bonnie Kratz ISAP Lawyer Albert Ross
ISAP Board Member
Jessica Ambats
ISAP Board Member
George Kounis
ISAP Board Member Richard VanderMeulen
ISAP Chairman Emeritus
Jay Miller
ISAP Staff Coordinator Doug Glover ISAP Social Media Coordinator Jeff Welker
ISAP Website Coordinator Tony Granata
ISnAP Editor Kevin Hong
ISnAP International Editor
Mike Green
ISnAP International Editor
Mark Mansfield
ISnAP International Editor
Justin de Reuck
The ISnAP is a periodic publication of the International Society for Aviation Photography and is used to communicate news, functions,convention information, and other information of interest on the local, regional, and national scenes. The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and should not be construed as the views or opinions of the International Society for Aviation Photography. Please submit photos as a jpg file, sized at 4x6 or 5x7 (200 dpi minimum), and text as a Microsoft Word file as attachments via email to ISnAP@aviationphoto.org
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